Applied Socio-political Studies, Institute of World Economy and International Relations, Russian Academy of Sciences / Public Policy Department, Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russian Federation

The course provides an opportunity to reflect on the recent political upheavals in Russia and in Ukraine. The aim of this course is, however, to explore national identity and nationalism in Europe and Russia disentangled from the news and to reveal hidden historically embedded patterns. The course will be built on texts and data of recent research materials with interdisciplinary, comparative and empirical approaches. Its overall objective is to raise participants’ awareness of the synergy resulting from these various approaches. Course faculty will include well-known international experts and CEU faculty.

The target audience includes MA students interested in the interdisciplinary aspects of nationalism and national identity as well as PhD students working on problems of national identity in Central and Eastern Europe in the context of the transformation crisis. We also encourage applications from students of leading Russian universities willing to take part in the century-old dialogue between Russia and Europe on the nature of national identity.

Participants will be expected to arrive with a basic understanding of global and national framework conditions for the transformation crisis in the countries of Eastern and Central Europe. They will also be expected to be familiar with core concepts of theories of nationalism, historical conditions of the area and principles of research methods through advanced studies, reading, research and/or practice. High level of fluency in written and spoken English will be a requirement for participation.